Dead lifting suit

ABSTRACT

A suit particularly for dead lifters comprises a front having a neckline substantially higher than in the back. This covers more of the front of the chest and reduces the tendency of the lifter to bend the upper torso forwardly. A method comprises wearing the suit while deadlifting.

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 11/728,276, filed Mar. 26, 2007 and a division of application Ser. No. 12/288,913, filed Oct. 24, 2008.

This invention relates to a suit for use by lifters competing in a dead lifting event and more particularly to a suit that encourages the lifter to keep the back straight.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Power lifting and weight lifting are sports, like all sports, where small differences in performance are the difference between winning and losing, especially in top flight competition. The reason, of course, is that competitors are normally very evenly matched. There are many different types of lifting events. One event is known as the deadlift. The deadlift can be performed with one or two different lifting techniques known as conventional or sumo. With the conventional technique, the competitor squats down with the legs parallel, grasps the bar of a barbell, usually with one palm facing down and one facing rearward, and then stands to an erect position with the barbell held at arms length and the knees in a locked position so the barbell is about thigh high. Sumo technique is essentially the same except the legs are splayed outwardly. Proper form for either technique is for the lifter to keep his back as straight as possible with the head up.

To date, the suits used by dead lifters are not substantially different than the suits worn by lifters in other events.

Disclosures of some interest relative to this invention are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,027,622; 4,625,336; 4,999,845; 5,033,117; 6,719,712 and D504,202.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In this invention, a more-or-less conventional lifter's suit is modified in two respects. Most importantly, the front neckline does not extend downwardly as far as the rear neckline. Conventional suits typically have the front and rear necklines about equal. Wrestling singlets have the reverse, i.e. the front neckline is much lower than the rear neckline.

It has been learned that making the front neckline higher than the rear neckline to keep the lifter's back more nearly straight because the high cut front provides more coverage of the chest and, when constructed of a fabric of high tensile strength and limited flexibility helps prevent substantial forward bending of the upper torso.

In addition, it is preferred that the tops of the straps be inclined rather than square to more nearly fit the normal shape of the trapezius muscles of dead lifters.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved suit for use in a dead lifting event.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved suit for dead lifter which encourages the user to keep the back straight.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide an improved dead lifting suit having a neckline that plunges more in the rear than in the front.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent as this description proceeds, reference being made to the accompanying drawings and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is view from the left front of a lifter wearing a suit of this invention but is not quite a front view as the left side seam is visible;

FIG. 2 is a view from the left rear of a lifter wearing a suit of this invention but is not quite a rear view as the left side seam is visible;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a lifter's suit of one size, illustrating the suit when placed on a flat horizontal surface; and

FIG. 4 is a front view of a lifter's suit of a second size, illustrating the suit when placed on a flat horizontal surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-4 a lifters suit 10 of this invention is made of a relatively inelastic permeable fabric that is approved by appropriate powerlifting associations or federations, such as the International Powerlifting Federation. As used herein, a relatively inelastic fabric is a fabric that does not noticeably stretch when it is manually pulled, either, on the bias or parallel to the weave. The fabric is accordingly atmospherically open in the sense that the wearer is exposed to the atmosphere through the suit.

As shown best in FIGS. 1-2, the suit 10 comprises a tight fitting torso section 12 from which extend a pair of leg sections 14, 16 closed by a crotch panel 18. A pair of shoulder straps 20, extend over the shoulders of a lifter to provide a front neckline 24 and a rear neckline 26 between the straps 20, 22. The straps 20, 22 merge with the torso section 12 to provide arm openings 28, 30. The suit is basically made of three pieces, a front panel, a rear panel and the crotch section 18 joined together along seams 32. Finish seams 34 prevent raveling of the fabric around the arm openings 28, 30 and around the leg sections 14, 16. The front and rear necklines 24, 26 are thus generally U-shaped as opposed to V-shaped.

As shown in FIGS. 1-4, the front neckline 24 is defined by generally parallel edges 36, 38 of the shoulder straps 20, 22 and a lowermost section 40. Similarly, the rear neckline 26 is defined by generally parallel edges 42, 44 of the shoulder straps 20, 22 and a lowermost section 42.

An important feature of this invention is that the lowermost section 46 of the rear neckline 26 is considerably lower than the lowermost section 40 of the front neckline 24. The lowermost sections 40, 46 are preferably flat to slightly upwardly concave, as opposed to V-shaped. Although considerable leeway is allowed, the rear neckline 26 preferably extends downwardly so the lowermost section 46 is at least coplanar with, or lower than, the lowermost end of the arm openings 28, 30. In contrast, the lowermost section 40 of the front neckline 24 is at least three inches, and preferably at least six inches, higher than the lowermost section 46 of the rear neckline 26 as may be seen best in FIGS. 1 and 2. Preferably, the lowermost section 40 of the front neckline 24 is adjacent or above the armpits of the wearer as shown best in FIG. 1.

It has been discovered that this unusual positioning of the front and rear necklines 24, 26 promotes a lifter to keep the back straight during dead lifting. Because keeping the back straight is the preferred technique in dead lifting, the suit 10 is ideal for these events.

In use, the lifter squats down, preferably keeping the back straight, and grasps the bar of the barbell, typically with one hand facing forwardly and one rearwardly. The lifter then stands to an erect position with the barbell held at arms length about thigh high and the knees in a locked position.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, suits 48, 50 of somewhat different size are illustrated for lifters of somewhat different size. There is some distortion of the suits 48, 50 when worn by the lifter, as suggested by the differences between FIGS. 1-2 and FIG. 3. The suit 48 is intended to be identical to the suit 10 while the suit 50 is of a smaller size, to be worn by a smaller lifter. In both suits 48, 50, the rear necklines 52, 54 include lowermost sections 56, 58 which are substantially lower than the lowermost sections 60, 62 of the front necklines 64, 66.

Although this invention has been disclosed and described in its preferred forms with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred forms is only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of operation and in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. 

1. A dead lifting suit comprising a tight fitting suit made of a relatively inelastic fabric that does not noticeably stretch when it is manually pulled, on the bias or parallel to the weave, the suit comprising a torso section merging with a pair of lower leg sections and a pair of straps extending over shoulders of a lifter, the torso section providing a pair of armholes for passing arms therethrough, the armholes extending from a top of the straps and having bottoms lying in a common plane, a back neck line between the shoulder straps extending downwardly from the top of the straps almost to the common plane and a front neck line between the shoulder straps extending downwardly less than about half way to the common plane.
 2. The dead lifting suit of claim 1 wherein the front neck line extends downwardly about 40% to the common plane. 